Swedish soccer for Buffalo City
Nangamso Mabindla
24 January 2007
The 2010 World Cup is three years away, but Buffalo City metropolitan municipality - governing East London, King William's Town and Bisho - is keen to stake its claim on football's showpiece event.
It will get the chance to show just what it is capable of when the Swedish club Gefle IF plays three matches in East London.
The first outing will take place on 31 January when the Swedes face a Buffalo City Invitation XI at the Absa Stadium. On 5 January they'll tackle Vodacom League team Tornado FC at the Jan Smuts Stadium. Two days later, on 7 January, they'll do battle with Premier Soccer League club Bloemfontein Celtic.
Twinning partnership
The visit forms part of a twinning partnership between Buffalo City and Gavle, a small Swedish city north of Stockholm, which is home to Gefle IF. Talking about the partnership, Buffalo City councilor Mheli Matika said the visit of the football club strengthened the
partnership of the two cities.
"Sweden is currently amongst the strongest soccer countries in Europe with an extensive World Cup tradition," Matika said. "Therefore, the aim of this soccer pilot project is to link the European winter training camp initiative with our preparations to become a Fifa 2010 base camp.
"There is a very strong possibility [Sweden] will qualify for the World Cup in 2010," he said.
Matika added that the visit is also significant because Sweden supported the fight against apartheid and continues to be a major investor in development projects in the Eastern Cape.
Important for World Cup preparations
Eastern Cape 2010 strategic manager Gogo Manqoyi viewed the visit by the Swedish top division side as important for the city and the province's preparations for the World Cup.
"This partnership between Gavle and Buffalo City is very good for the province," Manqoyi said. "Sweden stands a good chance of
qualifying for the World Cup, and might see Buffalo City and the province as a base."
For the city to make a good impression, it needs to "manage and provide this team with whatever we have, facility-wise. This will be a step forward in our efforts to market our province towards 2010".
For Buffalo City's project manager for the 2010 Fifa World Cup, Vuyo Zambodla, the three matches are an opportunity for the city to get back on the local soccer map.
'A wonderful opportunity'
"With the unfortunate demise of Bush Bucks in 2006, this is a wonderful opportunity for the Buffalo City municipality to begin 2007 by demonstrating to soccer lovers in the Eastern Cape and South Africa that we fully intend to remain on the map of both domestic and international soccer till 2010 and beyond," he said.
Zambodla added it was important for the city to test its readiness continuously for the biggest sporting Africa has ever hosted.
"As
the municipality begins to lobby various international soccer powers, including Sweden, to consider it for World Cup training and preparation, it is imperative that we are continuously testing and improving on our preparedness in this regard."
SA's most talked about team
Turning to the benefits of the game for the two teams, Zambodla said that Celtic was currently South Africa's most talked about team in the PSL, with arguably the fastest growing support base in the country.
For the Swedes, with an average age of 24, the game would be a good opportunity to unleash some of the best talent the country has on offer.
"The match against the Swedes will give Celtic an opportunity to showcase their current great form in the Eastern Cape, as they prepare to push for honours in the Castle Premiership."
Source: Buffalo City
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